NICE, France (Reuters) -The Ligue 1 clash between Nice and Olympique Marseille was abandoned in the 75th minute on Sunday after serious crowd trouble as Marseille players clashed with home fans who pelted them with missiles and came onto the pitch.
Nice supporters threw water bottles as Marseille were about to take a corner and, after visiting forward Dimitri Payet hurled one back at them, a full scale brawl ensued when some of the fans rushed on to the field.
Both teams retreated to the tunnel and play was held up for 90 minutes before referee Benoit Bastien declared it abandoned, with Nice players having returned to the pitch several minutes earlier while the Marseille players refused to join them.
Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere had appealed to Nice supporters over the sound system for calm during the delay but angry Marseille players and staff were adamant in refusing to carry on.
French daily L’Equipe reported that visiting players Payet, Matteo Guendouzi and Luan Peres were injured in scuffles with the crowd and riot police were deployed in front of the tier packed with Nice fans.
Nice were 1-0 up when play was interrupted after Swedish striker Kasper Dolberg fired them ahead in the 49th minute with Marseille missing a string of first-half chances.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Ken Ferris)
